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WWI Walking Tour near Central Library

Welcome to Home Town, Home Front--a self-guided walking tour of the neighbourhood around the Central Library on Johnson Street. If you enjoy the tour, please visit our website to learn more about other special events, including an exciting postcard project, guest speakers, a vintage knitting project, a travelling exhibit about Lucy Maud Montgomery and the Great War. . .and more! As you proceed through the tour, please be aware that many of the stops are private homes; please remain on the sidewalk, keep noise to a minimum, and respect the privacy of residents. Thank you for your consideration.

Walking Time: approximately 45 minutes

Leave the Central Library by the main doors.

Turn left on JOHNSON STREET (Warning: One-way traffic on Johnson Street. Do not try to follow these directions by car or bike.)

Cross BAGOT STREET.

Turn left on Bagot Street.

1

186 Bagot Street (now 194) James Crossley STEWART enlisted in 1917 and served as a Lieutenant-Colonel, rising through the ranks and later serving in WWII as a Commander of various Canadian and British Royal Artillery Corps, continuing to serve as a peace-time soldier until 1970. After retiring from the military, he served as construction manager with Homestead Land Holdings for 20 years; he died in 2003. See a photo and brief biography of him on this website.

2

180 Bagot Street Arthur Hopkins TETT was a banker. His wife Bessie was pregnant when he enlisted in November 1916 and their son John was born in April, but Arthur died of meningitis four months later while serving overseas with the 5th Canadian Reserve Battalion, presumably without ever seeing his son. Arthur's name can be seen in the First World War Book of Remembrance on Parliament Hill. By a strange coincidence, he was buried in a village called Kingstone, in Somerset, England.

3 and 4

166 and 168 Bagot StreetThomas Vincent HAMMOND was living at #168 with his family when he enlisted in January 1916. He was a clerk. His father Edward was listed as his next-of-kin. Thomas survived the war and died in 1955. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. Donald Arthur LAYZELL was born in London, England, but was living at #166, in his father's house, when he enlisted. He was a painter by trade, but during the war he served as an ambulance driver. His war medals can be seen online. After the war, he married Florence Smith and moved up the street to 247 1/2 Earl Street with their six month old son Arthur. At that time, Donald was working as an orderly. Later, the family went to live in Oakland, Michigan.

5

164 Bagot Street Owen Michael MADDEN lived here with his widowed aunt, Kathleen Berry, while he was studying medicine at Queen's. In May 1915, he got married, but less than two months later his bride drowned in Deseronto, Hastings County. In January 1916 he enlisted as a physician with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He survived the war and remarried in Ottawa in 1926, still listing this address--164 Bagot Street--as his place of residence.

6

155 Bagot StreetThomas HANCOCK's wife had died, leaving him with three small daughters. In 1914 he placed the girls in the Orphans' Home and went overseas with the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, was captured at the Battle of Julien and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Giessen, Germany. After the war he returned to his job as a painter/decorator and by 1921 was living at this address with his daughter Sarah. Read more about Thomas Hancock in KFPL's blog Presents from the Past.

Head east down EARL STREET (toward the lake).

7

81 Earl Street Carl J. KANE, John Edward KANE, and Vincent Nugent KANE lived here with their parents. When the war broke out, all three brothers enlisted in the war. Carl was a reporter for the Whig newspaper. He served as a captain in the 146th Canadian Battalion. John was a doctor. His war service file can be seen on the Library and Archives Canada website. Vincent was a clerk. He enlisted on 6 January 1916 and served with the regiment. After the war, Carl and Vincent moved to New York City, where Carl worked as a newspaper editor and Vincent a clerk in an electrical supply firm. Later, Carl became superintendent of a women's prison in New York.

8

72 Earl Street When Norman DUPONT enlisted in October 1916, he gave his address as72 Earl Street, his age as 18 and his next-of-kin as the Kingston Orphan's Home. In fact, he was just 15 years old, his father Julien was still living, and 72 Earl Street was the residence of Andrew Muller, a machinist at the Locomotive Works. We may never know what prompted Norman to fill out the form this way. However, we do know that he survived the war, married on Christmas Day 1920, and went to live in Napanee with his wife and baby son.

9

58 Earl Street Howard Hartford SMITH lived with his parents and twelve brothers and sisters inthis house. Their father was a labourer. Howard was 18 years old when he enlisted and was assigned to the 146th Overseas Battalion CEF, in which many other Kingston soldiers also served--including Richard Palamountain, who was the grandfather of hockey personality Don Cherry. Howard survived the war, married, and moved to a house on University Avenue with his bride Jenny.

10

56 Earl Street William Gardiner ANGLIN and his son Douglas Gould ANGLIN lived here. Lieutenant-Colonel William Gardiner Anglin was a surgeon. During the war he served in that role overseas, but in 1916 he fell ill and received a medical discharge. When he recovered, he became the physician of the Kingston Penitentiary. In 1916, his son Douglas was married to Doris Kent in St. George's Cathedral, and soon afterward he went overseas with the Queen's Battery. His bride went with him to London, where their daughter was born in November 1916. Douglas continued to serve in Europe until 1919, rising to the rank of Major before his return to Canada and to civilian life as an engineer.

11

52 Earl Street Jeremy TAYLOR and his brother Kenneth Elder TAYLOR were sons of a bank manager and grandsons of a distinguished military officer named John Barton Taylor. Both sons, and their sister Edith, were born in Fredericton, N.B., but from about 1911 until Kenneth enlisted in February 1916, the family was living here at 52 Earl Street. Three months later, at the time of Jeremy's enlistment, the family had moved to 136 King Street. After the war, Jeremy moved to Windsor, Ontario, married and worked in the wholesale grocery business. Kenneth became a Rhodes Scholar and Doctor of Divinity. He later served as Chief Chaplain of the 2nd Canadian Corps during WWII, for which he was awarded an O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire.) He and his wife are buried in Cataraqui Cemetery.

12

46 Earl Street (now 36) Leo Frank GOODWIN's was originally GUTTMAN. However, he changed it during the war to distance himself from his German roots. He was the Commanding Officer of a regiment that went early to the front with two other Kingstonians--Sparks and Day--both of whom were killed in action. A chemical engineer, Goodwin was seconded by the British for his expertise with high explosives. Later (1926 - 1929) he served as the Commanding Officer of the Princess of Wales Own Regiment here in Kingston.

14

240 King Street When Cyril STOLWORTHY joined up, he listed his sister, Miss Kathleen Stolworthy, as his next-of-kin. She was a maid in this house, which belonged to Kingston's medical health officer Dr. Archibald Williamson. Kathleen and Cyril had come to Canada as Barnardo Children after their parents died in England. Cyril served with the 210/216 Battalion CEF. When peace was declared in 1918, he returned to Canada, got married and went to live in Wisconsin.

Turn right on WILLIAM STREET and walk toward the lake.

15

Frontenac Club Inn Plaque IN MEMORY OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS CLUB WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918

17

25 Johnson Street (now 39) William MURRAY was born in Guelph. He and his wife lived in a house that used to stand on this spot. William was a teamster with the Robertson & Nicholle wholesale grocers firm that stood next door at the corner of Johnson and Ontario. William was 40 years old when he signed up on 3 Nov 1914. He survived the war and returned home to this spot and to his former position with the grocery business.

19

254 King Street Leo James KAVANAGH enlisted in November 1914, very soon after the war started. He was a 24-year-old student, living here with his parents and two sisters and a brother. His mother worked in a lunch and tea room just down the street at 338 King East (approximately where Berry & Peterson bookstore is now). On the 1911 census, Leo's family origins were listed as Irish. It is not yet known what happened to him during or after the War.

20

250 King Street When Herbert John DAWSON enlisted on Valentine's Day 1916, he was an Associate Professor at the Royal Military College. He listed his wife, Ethel, as his next-of-kin. She was living at this address. Herbert served as the commanding officer of the 46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, and in 1917 he received a Distinguished Service Order. After the war, he returned to RMC where he served as the Director of Studies until his death on New Year's Day, 1926.

23

58 William Street Robert Harold HAWLEY enlisted on 22 September 1914, very soon after war was declared. His next of kin was Dorothy H. Hawley, probably his sister, who was living in this house with their maiden aunt Etta Smith and her two other nephews, Henry and Edwin. Dorothy was a stenographer in a life insurance company, and her aunt was a clerk at Uglow's bookstore. In June 1915, Robert was killed. He was 23 years old. He is commemorated at the Vimy Memorial in France. See his name and a commemorative plaque on the Canadian Virtual War memorial.

24

60 William Street Ernest STEWART was a chauffeur for the C.H. Finkle livery and auto company on Clarence Street. His first attempt to enlist was denied because his wife Lillian refused to allow it. During the early years of the war, a soldier could not sign up without written consent from his spouse. Learn more about this in the Women and War exhibit on the website of Queen's University Archives. Lillian's refusal may have had something to do with the fact that her previous husband had died just two years earlier. A few months after her initial refusal, Ernest did enlist, and was assigned to the 21st Battalion C.E.F. He survived the war, but died of a heart attack in 1924 on King Street East--near the present-day location of the Empire Life company. Two years later, Lillian remarried.

At the corner of WILLIAM STREET and WELLINGTON STREET,

look to your left.

25

93 Wellington Street Harold Sparling ANGROVE's family lived at 56 Clergy Street. His father ran an automotive service and garage, and Harold was the secretary-treasurer of the Automobile Club. Harold became a doctor, and enlisted on 15 October 1917 with the rank of Captain. Five weeks later, he was married to Gertrude Estella Stafford. On his attestation form she is listed as his next-of-kin, living at this address on Wellington Street. After the war, the couple lived on William Street near Bagot Street with their 2- year-old daughter, Julia.

Turn right on WELLINGTON STREET.

26

100 Wellington Street John Featherston SPARKS was a physician with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He had served in the South African War (Boer War) from 1899-1901. When he enlisted in 1914 he was living here with his wife Mabel and their two-year-old daughter Betty. He returned to this house after the War and died in 1964.